‘This was definitely a mistake.’

Sigard thought to himself as he and his two escorts traversed their way through the cave tunnels. Both the Golden Tiger and Mantis Queen were heavily injured from the previous fight. His entire fighting force had suffered damaging wounds in a single fight. And while concerning, what really set Sigard on edge was that tattoo. It meant that the wearer was a member of the Relentless Stalkers Guild. The organization that technically owned him, that controlled his slave brand, whose members can with a single order circumvent his own free will. The Relentless Stalkers can strip him of what little freedom he has obtained with just a few words. And one of them was practically next to him, if she had spoken at any point before or during that fight, he could very well have been returned to slavery.

And so Sigard had called off his expedition and retreat back to the Core. That group was to small for there current depth in the Maze, which means that they were most likely a part of a larger expedition. So the possibility of more adventurous ‘Hunters’ being nearby is rather high. And any one of them could be a member of the Relentless Stalkers. In addition to the usual dangers in the Maze.

Luckily the Relentless Stalker girl was quite thoroughly dead now. On top of that Sigard managed to scavenge various supplies from the now dead adventurers, including a bone sword.

“Hssk! Hssk!”

Sigard pick up a faint noise reverberating through the cave. He stopped his and his escorts movements, remaining completely still waiting to hear the noise again.

Goblins? It didn’t sound like them, but he wasn’t certain. Stygodytes? Unlikely, there’s no water nearby. Vermun? Maybe, but they should be making a whole lot more noise than this. Maybe a mutated burrowing beast then. That would account for the seeming isolated and sporadic sounds coming from it.

“Hssk…Hssk!”

The noise reverberated through the cave again. Now that Sigard heard it clearer this time he was now certain as to it’s origin. Vermun.

The Vermun were one of the many scourges of the Maze. Ragged, human shaped rat monsters well known for their viciousness and savagery. Fast breeding creatures, their bulging hordes often push into the territory of others. They like almost all monsters native to the Maze are given to given to a high degree of mutation and so bolster a vile, horrific sort of diversity. There are many rumored subspecies such as a variant with spiked quills mixed in their fur, others able to chew through and manipulate wood, capable of shaping earth and rock, or bear golden fur instead of the typical brown. Just to a few of the common rumors that even an overlooked slave like Sigard would know of.

Upon coming to this conclusion Sigard immediately reached for the bone sword while skulking towards a bend in the cave tunnel. He motioned for the two monsters to remain silent and stay still while he advanced. Not wanting to attract any attention his way, he leaned against the cave wall as he slowly peered around the bend, looking and listening for the source.

He didn’t see anything abnormal. No Vermun horde as he feared, or sign of their passing, or any random monsters even. There was just a seemingly mundane looking cave tunnel, that continued on before splitting off into several passageways. This didn’t mean Sigard was going to relax. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what he heard and so he remained vigilant.

The claustrophobic dark made it difficult for Sigard to see, but it didn’t stop him from peering down the cave, as he could still make out enough to see that there was nothing in sight. This didn’t relieve Sigard at all, he knew what he heard and though he couldn’t see any threats he stood rooted in place. There were definitively Vermun nearby, they could be a simple group of wandering the tunnels, a party waiting in an ambush, or even an entire warband marching through. Sigard continued to stand in place, patiently waiting for them to reveal themselves.

…

“…Hssk”

Finally after what felt like an eternity, Sigard heard the Vermun call again followed several agonizingly slow minutes later by the Vermun themselves.

There were six of them accompanied by a giant rat. Scrawny, short and malnourished looking this small group made for a pitiful sight. They wore decrepit, patchwork armor that was obviously scavenged off a different creature as it didn’t fit them properly. Weapons were a mishmash of rusted tools and blunt clubs. Despite their wretched appearance of the monsters, Sigard was not happy. On the contrary such a dismal state means that if they were to come to blows these Vermun would fight with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The ratmen had walked in from one of the tunnels and made their way towards another one. And just like that they had disappeared down the cave tunnel.

Good Sigard thought to himself. He wasn’t in the mood to be fighting right now. Both of his bodyguards were wounded and he didn’t have the strength or training to use the bone sword as anything more than a club.

He motioned for the two monsters to continue down the path.

They quickly got far away from there, heading back to the Core. They would have several more near miss encounters similar to the first on their way. Thankfully the encountered monsters either wasn’t interested or didn’t know of their presence.

Returning to the Mist shrouded forest, Sigard finally felt some relief for he was almost back to safety. The forest itself had the same serene atmosphere from before their departure. It all seemed to be the same as before. Though the deer population seemed to be more active at this time, as Sigard kept an eye on the forest he saw several groups of them off in the distance.

Continuing the retreat to the ruined fortress then the Core room, only to be interrupted by the noise of something crashing through the forest.

A giant rat came charging in, landing right in front of Sigard. It wiggled around for a moment, hissing, then charged at Sigard.

In that split second Sigard swings the bone sword, it pierces the muzzle but lodges itself when it hits the fangs.

Enraged the rat resumes its charge, only to be stopped by the Golden Tiger ploughing into it. Both monsters fought, biting and clawing each other. The tiger going for the throat, while the rat pushed back with its nimble, sharp paws in a brutal exchange. For a brief moment the two were evenly matched, at least until the Mantis Queen crept up behind the giant rat and stabbed down with her foreleg into the rat’s lower back. The rat gave a shriek of pain then was quickly snuffed out by the Tiger’s powerful jaw bite to the neck.

And it was done, it ended just as quickly as it began.

Sigard was left dazed, as his monsters finished their kill. It was only after it had finished that it occurred to him that the giant rat was the same one with the Vermun he saw back in the tunnels, several hours earlier. Then where were the Vermun? And what was the giant rat doing here?

He looked back into the forest but only saw the silent mist.